Little Betty

The Escape

   My head felt heavy once I resurfaced to consciousness. I opened my eyes to take in my surroundings, but all I saw was black. I instantly panicked, thinking I had gone blind. My breathing came in quick heaves. The air seemed to be getting thinner. My arms jutted out in front of me. They searched for anything in my way as I tried to inch forward in a crouched position.

   As soon as I moved my foot ahead, a clanking noise followed it. Quickly, I ducked and swung my arms all around me to see if anything was near. Once my hands came in contact with nothing but the stale air, I became even more panicked. Where did the noise come from? I tried moving my foot again, and the sound instantly made its presence. It sounded like a chain. My hands fell from the air and started feeling around my foot. I stopped when I felt a thick clasp of something hard wrapped around my ankle. Just great... I was chained down. With the chain in hand, I followed it back to where it was bolted down. It was connected to a wall made of bricks. The bricks seemed to be pretty solid still, despite this building looking quite old.

   I let out a huff and slumped back down to the floor. I stared into the surrounding darkness and thought of how life would be now that I was blind. It'll be tremendously tough to get the hang of, but I'm sure I can manage. Many people did it every day. Just as I was starting to wallow in my own pity, a speck of white formed in the distance. At first I ignored it, thinking it was my mind teasing me that I'd never be able to see again. Then, it slowly grew until it was a bright ray beaming at me, giving me hope. My hands shot up to cover my eyes at the intensity of the light, and that's when I realized that I could actually see my hands! I let out a relieved chuckle and mentally smacked myself for giving up so easily and jumping to conclusions like that.

   The light seemed to be steady for now, so I squinted my eyes to focus on where it was coming from. It was the sun. I crawled forward as much as the chain would let me. It stopped me about 3 yards short of an iron door. The rusty door was left ajar a few inches, and that's how the sun was peeking through. Beyond the door, I could make out a cracked window covered in brown film. Where the crack was running up from the corner of the window, the brown film was partly torn away, allowing the sun's ray entrance.

   Using the small ray from the sun, I surveyed the room I was being held captive in. There were a few steel tables up against the walls to my right. On those tables, I could make out a couple cleavers stuck in cutting boards. There were cardboard boxes strewn about the room. To my left was a giant steel door that had enormous bolts protruding from all around it's border. I turned around to discover what was in the back of the room, but the ray of sunshine could not reach that far and penetrate the thick blanket of darkness.

   Before I could crawl back to the spot I woke up in, I heard a very faint sound. I really had to strain my ears to catch it again. It sounded like soft crying and muffled sniffles. They seemed to be coming from behind the steel door I had noticed earlier. Immediately, I guessed it was the kidnapped children. I crawled over to the door and knocked. The crying stopped as soon as my knuckles rapped against the metal.

"Hello? My name is Sam, I'm here to help you." I whispered, hoping they could here it through the thick door. There was a sharp inhale of breathe from the other side, instantly followed by a shush.

"Sam?" A small voice squeaked back.

"Yes, my name is Sam. I'm going to get you guys out of here."

"Please! Please, before he takes another one of us!"

"How many of you are in there?"

"Th-there are 5 of us."

"Okay, I'm going to find a way to get you all out. I'll be right back, don't worry."